The Unclaimed Child
by Liferequan
Summary: Hey, my name's Carrol. Max Carrol. You might be saying, 'Oh gods, another kid trying to tell me their life story. Sooo cringey' Yeah, tell that to the Aphrodite girls. So, as the title suggests, I'm an unclaimed child. I've been unclaimed for nearly a month, and that's made me the loser at camp. I guess this is my story. My journey. My quest to find my godly parent.
1. My Life is Made From Stupid Decisions

"WHERE ARE YOU DEMIGOD?! ALLOW ME TO RIP YOU TO PIECES!" The bellowing voice nearly make my sense of hearing go deaf, making me nearly pop my ears. There was shallow breathing next to me. I turned my gaze to my injured friend. His tattered shirt had blood seeping through the orange fabric.

"Oh gods, how in Hades are we gonna beat this guy?" I looked at him in horror.

"Dude, you're hurt! No way I'm letting you go out there to fight that abomination!" I then heard a dark chuckle coming from the back of our little hideout.

"YOU DARE CALL ME AN ABOMINATION? I AM THE STRONGEST OF ALL CYCLOPS! I HAVE PERFECTED ALL MY INVENTIONS, I HAVE BEATEN ALL MY FORMER COMRADES, AN–!"

"Oh shut up you stupid loser!" My friend managed to yell out. "You have no bragging rights!" I peeked from one of the small peeping holes. And dang, he just managed to make the big weirdo even angrier. His bronze tanned skin started to turn bright crimson red, as if the cyclops was drenched in blood. His single eye actually started to tear up.

"Ummm, Francis? What in the heck is going on?" That's the question I asked this whole entire day.

Alright lemme tell you what happened to cause this situation. I'll spare you all the details of what happened today.

First, I got picked on by some big stupid jock nicknamed the 'Dozer'. I envisioned his nickname to signal that this guy slept a lot and not that he can pretty much beat everyone in the school. Then my friend, who's bleeding right next to me, warned me not to get to a fight with him. Of course, with any stupid adolescent teenager who's thirteen would obviously go ahead and do what they weren't supposed to do.

I stupidly threw a freaking weight at him.

Yeah, I now know that was a horrible decision that I threw something that could've killed him. But it surprisingly didn't. The thick metal weight bounced right off of him. Everyone, I mean everyone looked at me and 'Dozer'. Even the teachers. Then he snapped and dashed right towards me. Everyone ran away, exited the gym except me (of course), 'Dozer', and Francis.

Lemme tell ya something about Francis Imperio. He's the best joker around. He always knew when to crack me up and he always had hyperactive eyes, he'd always tap his fingers on any type of surface and it's like he drank ten cups of pure sugar. But when I was pinned down on the floor by 'Dozer', his jokester personality immediately disappeared as it was replaced with pure anger as he freaking pulled out a sword, bronze and sharp as hell, and stabbed 'Dozer'. Apparently, that make 'Dozer' scream in pain, and allowed me to make the perfect getaway. I wasn't going to comment on that, and that was because he saved my life right from being pummeled.

I ran to racks of basketballs and other sports equipment, I was scrawny enough to squirm my way into a empty space. There I made enough space for me to contemplate my existence. I suddenly remembered Francis. Then I heard a crash and a scream of agony. I saw a body clutching their stomach area, slumped over, near my hideout. I dragged the body to my area as I rearranged other racks to make enough space to get Francis in.

Now back to our current situation. Francis is hurt, holding a dangerous sword dripping with blood. 'Dozer' apparently turned into some 25 ft. super giant bodybuilder who took too many steroids. Now red. I'm here, helpless, without a weapon, my friend hurt, and I'm about to die.

"Francis. I'm so, so, so sorry that I got you in this mess. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. And I'm sorry that I can't help you." Francis looked at me surprised. He looked at his stomach wound.

"Look, remember when I told you that you were special?" I looked at him in confusion.

"Yeah? I was assuming you said that out of pure love." He managed to smack me on the arm.

"No! I meant that you have something you can protect yourself with!" He frowned as I just ruined his inspirational speech to get me going. "Use my sword. If you really wanna help, go kill that monster for me." Then we both heard a roar.

"DEMIGOD! I AM GETTING QUITE IMPATIENT! HURRY YOU COWARD!" That was it. I hated being called a coward. That's the last straw, and if he didn't take it back, I'd fulfill Francis's wish to kill this guy. I nodded to Francis, signaling I was going out. I didn't wait for his nod as I snatched the sword out of his hand, the hilt was warm. The leather strap helped me grip the weapon with ease. I had no history with any kind of weapon. Besides slingshots. And my fists. And my brain. Hey, by that, I meant intelligence! I'm smart! First semester, I got straight A's!

I managed to crawl my way out of the racks as I hid for a second behind a couple of boxes. I peeked out and saw 'Dozer'. He was radiating a red glow. He had no weapon. I thought of all the advantages I had. I was small, scrawny, perhaps strategic? Also, I had a weapon. I thought of all the disadvantages I had. I had to fight a giant or cyclops? He looked strong. And he's glowing.

Immediately, I saw 'Dozer' sniff. Was he like a dog? Cause I had a dog. Why am I changing subjects in a middle of a fight? 'Dozer' lumbered towards my direction. My heart started pounding. I didn't know as he sniffed again, he turned around as he walked away. I calmed down as he then reached towards something. I looked to see what was going on.

"DEMIGOD. YOU ARE GOING TO BE A TASTY APPETIZER!" I immediately knew what he was talking about. He was picking up the steel racks and tossing them aside. He knew where Francis was. Rage burned through my eyes.

"Hey, Tomato! Over here!" The cyclops turned around, his hand about to pick up Francis's body. "Yeah! Put him down! I'm who you want! I'm the one who enraged you in the first place!" 'Dozer' frowned as his lone eye targeted me.

"YOU ARE CORRECT DEMIGOD. YOU ARE THE ONE WHO DARED TO CHALLENGE ME IN EONS. BE PROUD, YOU ARE TO DIE BY THE HANDS O–" I fake yawned as I pointed my sword towards 'Dozer'.

"You talk way too much! Cut it to a minimum of 20 words or less!" I did just reference one of One Punch Man's quotes to Genos. Particularly, when Genos says his reason for joining Saitama. Man, I actually got to say it in a serious moment! 'Dozer' grinned as he nods.

"PREPARE TO DIE!" Well that's not what I would've thought he would say, but hey, it's good enough. He charged right at me as I quickly ran away. His hand was out stretched when he was charging as his hand was stuck in the wall. I had an extremely stupid idea, but this whole entire thing happened when I had a stupid idea to throw the weight at him in the first place. I ran to the hand that was stuck, and I quickly climbed onto his wrist.

Stupid, am I right? I was half-expecting he would slap me off like a mosquito, but I didn't realize that cyclops would have low reaction time. Maybe only just 'Dozer'. Maybe. I tried my best to keep my eyes on the prize as I dashed up his arm. I readied my aim as I looked at 'Dozer' in the eye. He slowly realized what I was going to do as his single eye widened.

I plunged the bronze sword into the big guy's eye. For your information, if any of you guys wanna do this, you've gotta have to hold in your disgust and the urge to puke. Like me. Because it's hard to keep a serious and grim face as you just blinded someone for life with a freaking sword. Disgusting right?!

'Dozer' screamed as blood oozed out of his eye socket. I wanted to curl up into a ball, knowing what I needed to do next. I had to get the sword out of his eye. Did I have to? Of course I had to! Man, why am I so stupid? I stood on 'Dozer's' ugly crooked nose as my legs anchored themselves, ready for impact as I gripped the hilt. I looked away as I heard the slimy and disgusting sound as I got the sword out. Francis might kill me for covering his sword with cyclops goo. Although in the first place it had cyclops blood. Huh.

Whatever happened next, please don't feel sorry.

As I got the sword out, I used too much force and guess what? The sword flew out of my hand. Yep. You're probably thinking, 'Okay, you're the main character. You'll probably have that sword back just like how Captain America always gets his shield back when he throws it.' Hey reader, lemme tell you something. That wasn't my sword. I don't have plot armor. And I have absolutely no metal powers that could possibly help me drag that bronze sucker back into my hand and stab 'Dozer' again.

I heard Francis yell from across the gym. Yeah, seeing your friend lose their weapon is a very mucho big deal, but seeing your friend then being picked up and was about to be eaten by a cyclops was a whole other thing. It felt like I was the patty of the hamburger, and being squashed by the two buns.

This shouldn't have happened. I shouldn't have even bothered to even provoke him in the first place. 'Dozer' chuckled darkly as the grip on me tightened. I held back a scream. On a scale of 1 to 10? That was a solid 15. I nearly felt my ribs crack. I almost couldn't breathe. This kinda looked like a boy holding a doll from faraway. But the doll was actually a living being. "DEMIGOD. I HAVE TOLD YOU FIVE TIMES ALREADY. YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME."

"A-Actually, it was two. The things you said before that were just you saying you were going to kill me..." 'Dozer' obviously wasn't impressed by my impressive memory.

"YOU HAVE TAKEN MY EYE." I gulped as I looked behind me, hoping to see Francis. He disappeared, and so did the sword. I was glad. He shouldn't have been roped in this. I looked at his closed eye. I spread my arms.

"Yeah?! You tried to kill me!" 'Dozer' frowned.

"I DID NOT. _YOU_ HAVE TRIED TO KILL ME." I had to agree with him. I did try to kill him.

"But, can't we compromise 'Dozer'!?" The cyclops sighed as he loosened his grip. I guess even someone like him can calm down.

"My true name is Cy." Did I hear that correctly? Cy? Like, Cy the Cyclops? And did he say that in a more normal way? This day was too weird. I decided not to question the name. "AND I AM NOT HERE TO COMPROMISE!" Hoo boy, can't believe I'm happy to say this. But, I'm glad 'Dozer' a.k.a. Cy the Cyclops was yelling.

"Then, are you gonna eat me? I'd really appreciate that you won't." Just as Cy/'Dozer' was about to reply, he let out a brutal cry of pain. His grip on me loosened even more, making me fall out of his grasp. You think this is a good thing? No! No, nada, nein, nope! Remember in the beginning where I told you Cy/'Dozer' was as tall as 24 ft.? Yeah, now I'm falling from 18 ft. above ground. Either I'm lucky that I won't snap my spine, or I will.

Then all of a sudden, I saw blur of orange and traveling behind it was a girl with curly black hair. I wouldn't believe who it was.

"Francis, catch that guy!"


	2. Mom Imposter Tells Me A Poem Awesome!

Beginning Notes: I'm sorry, I had a writers block. I hope you guys won't get mad due to the early prophecy... I'll explain how Max got the prophecy in the end notes.

—

Now that I think about it, I might actually have plot armor. I was falling, and I saw Francis running to my rescue. Could this day get any worse? Ever since, the last time I got in this major trouble was when I saw my mom scolding me for picking the vegetables from our huge garden too early. Hey, you couldn't really blame me. She knew I loved doing that ever since I was a kid, and that was a year ago. That sweet memory was actually the last thing I remembered before going black.

Yep, you heard me. I fell and hit my head hard. It hurt so much, if I could describe the pain, I would describe it as getting hit on the head with a metal baseball bat. But shouldn't I be dead right now? I fell from such a high place, I should've cracked my head right now. Only if I knew what else happened to me. I heard some muffled screams as I slowly drifted to my pit of darkness.

I probably got a concussion, that's bad since I never one before. That means I couldn't handle the sharp pain that keeps banging within my skull. It was like I was the gong, and me hitting the floor was the stick that banged on the gong, sending all awful feeling throughout my body.

Visions don't happen to me a lot. My mom and stepdad,(and yeah I have a stepdad so? He's so nice and caring to our family!), told me that if a vision comes, it's probably an omen and you're probably hallucinating. This wasn't the case for hallucinations, heck, I was probably going through a hazy dream.

My black mindscape slowly morphed into a peaceful meadow, but to be precise, the meadow my mom used to take me everytime during her wedding anniversary with my dad. My actual dad. The dad I never knew. There were flowers surrounding a giant oak tree, standing tall and mighty with its beautiful green leaves. The lillies and honeysuckle flowers were where me and mom sat and had our picnic for the little event, right under the tree's shade. I was overwhelmed by the sweet aroma and gentle breeze of the spring. I shouldn't be able to smell or feel the wind. That's when I realized I couldn't move.

I tried moving a leg up forward but was restricted. This was like I was controlled by the Force, but no one was controlling me. This is my mindscape, so why can't I control my own body?

Suddenly, the peaceful and wispy clouds started to turn dark and grew big as they started to produce thunder and rain. The wind grew strong as I almost felt I was going to be swept off my feet and into the storm. I tried my best to look through the rain as it was pouring heavily. I saw my mom. Her long blonde hair tied in a bun, her bright blue eyes, the splash of freckles which I didn't have, and what stood out from her the most was her necklace. Her gold necklace gleamed in the cold and dark weather, the briolette-cut amethyst hung from the center, and the best thing was that there was a diamond charm that was styled to look like a heart hung in the front. That was my dad's engagement gift to mom before they married.

I almost thought this was her until she opened her mouth to talk, and oh boy it didn't sound like her at all.

"Max Carrol. You have come and delivered." The voice literally sounded horrible. It was as if you rubbed styrofoam and some pyrite/ any type of rock together and boom, that's your voice. Her raspy voice sounded like she was croaking or wheezing. Pick any of the two.

I wanted to speak, but I couldn't due to whatever restriction I had. The storm got worse as I saw a tornado coming our way. My "mom's" eyes started to glow a faint green and green smoke engulfed the meadow, the giant oak tree was in flames, now all I could smell was smoke. I wanted to cry, my place, no, my dad and mom's favorite place was now destroyed and ruined. "Mom" looked at me as the smoke surrounded me and her. She lifted both of her hands as she gave me some words I didn't understand.

"For the son borne from the unknown man,

Gods and goddesses not amongst they can

Allow the child find their path

Concealed location by the lost memories wrath

Within the roots of Hermes child

Shall he meet the reconciled

Until the three find their way

The fate of the last cannot be saved."

Smokey gray engulfed me as I tried my best to remember the lines. Good thing I have a good memory! That's what always saves me in tests and quizzes! The scene changed as I stood upon a hill with a girl with her face hidden and standing under a tree's shade.

"You have no idea what's going on do you?" Her words wash over me like a warm sunny day as I nodded. Or attempted to anyway as the girl groaned. "You're Max Carrol right?"

She seems to have just noticed that I couldn't move as she face palmed herself.

"Ah right, this is a dream. Got it." She stepped out of the shadow to reveal herself. She wore a long white sleeveless dress, her auburn hair seemed to be on fire was in a french-braid as she was barefoot. Her eyes were glowing orange, no pupil and no iris. Just orange. (Should I mention Orange Justice? Maybe not…) She smiled warmly at me as she walked towards me. " I haven't tried doing this in a very long time, you're the first one I've ever come contact to. Not that you're my son or anything. You're mother does kind of looks like me huh?"

She actually does, her face looks like hers anyways. She had a perfect tan this lady, she looked like one of those models on TV. She might as well look like a daughter from a lumberjack, kinda like Wendy from Gravity Falls.

"You must wake up. Your friends must be worried." I was shocked. I completely forgot about Francis! And I completely forgot about what my well-being was! I looked at the mystery girl once again as she looked back at me curiously. "Hurry. The gods would be furious if I were to stay here any longer." The hill started to get dark as the mystery girl's hair started to glow orange as I saw the burning embers float from her fiery locks. She mouthed one more word as the scene started to fade away.

"Go."

As she said that, I immediately felt cold. My head still hurt as I started to hear mumbles around me as I continued to float in the cold, dark, murky waters of my mind. Until I tasted something sour with a mix of umami. I snap back into reality.

I sat straight up as bright light entered my sight. Right in my mouth, was a yellow square. Francis was next to me, and I was on a bed. A hospital bed. Was I in the nurse's office? I groaned as I chewed on the square thing, I thought it was medicine but it tasted like my favorite food which was my stepdad's homemade borscht soup. The pain started to dull as my mind started to clear up, I just look at Francis crazy.

"Dude… What just happened? What happened to Cy!?" Francis winces as he made a silent gesture by zipping his lips. I looked around me as I sat up. I didn't even feel pain anymore as I got off the bed, but as I set foot on the ground, I just stumble as I grabbed for the bed.

"He's dead. You shouldn't have even did that. Gosh, now I have to explain to your mom of why you're even like this. Why didn't I call in a protector earlier?" I wanted to comfort Francis. It's my fault. It's all my fault.

"Francis… It isn't your fault. I'll explain to my mo–" Francis waved his hand at me, dismissing my attempt to help him out.

"No, I should've ran away with you in the first place. You would've been much more safer if I told you all about this earlier." I looked at him confused as I remembered the weird dream/ vision I had.

"Wait, does this have to do some weird poem? Or girl?" Francis looked at me curiously.

"What poem? And what girl? Considering you, you would never joke around." I grumble.

"Why would I joke after a guy turned into a giant–"

"Cyclops." I rolled my eyes.

"–cyclops after the guy dropped me and I almost died?" Francis shrugged.

"Tell me what you saw. Then I'll tell you what you need to know." I nodded.

"So there was a lady, and she looked like my mom and started saying a poem of some kind. The thing is, that I have a great memory so you're lucky and I'm lucky. She said,

For the son borne from the unknown man,

Gods and goddesses not amongst they can

Allow the child find their path

Concealed location by the lost memories wrath

Within the roots of Hermes child

Shall he meet the reconciled

Until the three find their way

The fate of the last cannot be saved." I took in a deep breath. This was overwhelming. That guilt was lifted upon me.

Francis looked at me shocked as he put his hand over his mouth. He choked a sob as he looked down.

"I can't believe it." I look at him worried.

"You can't believe what?" He looked like he wanted to thank me for saving the entire world from ultimate despair. Which I didn't.

"It's been months ever since Rachel went off to Camp Jupiter with Tyson and Ella. And Apollo hasn't even defeated Python yet." I raised a brow. I didn't understand a single thing he said.

"Soooo?" He shook his head.

"You had a vision from the gods. A prophecy has been spoken."

—

End Notes:

Sonthe reason of how he even got the prophecy was because Rachel probably found a prophecy from Ella and already sent it to Camp HalfBlood. And then that might mean that when Francis went to get Max, the prophecy was sent to camp after the battle with Cy. So that's when Max gets his vison of the prophecy. I hope it isn't too confusing. I'm sorry, but I'll try to play along with it as I go. I'll try to fix it as I go.


End file.
